THE BURMESE RUFOUS WOODPECKER. 57 



Genus MICROPTEKNUS, BL 



449. MICROPTERNUS PEUEOCEPS. 

 THE BURMESE RUFOUS WOODPECKER. 



Micropternus phaioceps, BL J. A. S. B. xiv. p. 195; Jerd. B. 2nd. i. p. 294; 

 Hume, S. F. iii. p. 72 ; BL $ Wald B. Burm. p. 77 ; Gammie, S. F. iv. p. 511 ; 

 Hume, S. F. v. p. 480 ; Hume $ Dav. S. F. vi. p. 145 ; Cripps, S. F. vii. p. 262 ; 

 Scully, S. F. viii. p. 249. Phaiopicus blythii *, Malh. Rev. Zool. 1849, p. 534. 

 Phaiopicus rufinotus, Malh. Mon. Pic. ii. p. 1, pi. xlvi. fig 1 . 1-3. Picus 

 rufinotus, Stindev. Conxp. Av. Pic. p. 88. Micropternus barmannicus, 

 Hume, Proc. As. Soc. Benrj. 1872, p. 71 ; BL $ Wald. B. Burm. p. 77. Micro- 

 pternus phaeoceps (Bl.*), Hume, S. F. viii. p. 88, ix. p. 112 ; Binyh-am, S. F. 

 ix. p. 164 ; Oates, S. F. x. p. 192. 



Description. Male. The whole plumage chestnut-bay; the forehead, 

 crown and nape browner ; the back, rump, upper tail-coverts, tail and 

 wings regularly banded with black ; the feathers of the chin, throat and 

 sides of the head faintly edged paler ; the feathers under and behind the 

 eye tipped with crimson ; the feathers of the abdomen, vent, sides of the 

 body and under tail-coverts subterminally dusky. 



The female differs in wanting the crimson tips to the feathers under and 

 behind the eye, and in having the feathers of the chin, throat and sides of 

 the face more distinctly margined paler. 



Very old birds of both sexes have the bars on the wings, tail and upper 

 plumage narrow and interrupted ; the feathers of the abdomen and lower 

 plumage in general without the subterminal dark bars. 



Iris brown ; eyelids plumbeous ; bill very dark brown, plumbeous at the 

 base of the lower mandible ; legs and feet greyish brown ; claws horn- 

 colour. 



Length 10 inches, tail 3, wing 4' 8, tarsus '9, bill from gape 1'2. The 

 female is of the same size. 



The Burmese Rufous Woodpecker is spread over the whole of British 

 Bur mah, but is more abundant in some parts than in others. 



It is found in the hill- tracts of Eastern Bengal and along the Himalayas 

 as far as Kumaon, extending south to Central India. It is also, most 

 probably, distributed over the Indo-Burmese countries. To the south it 

 has been met with in the Malay peninsula at Klang. 



I have found this Woodpecker most abundant in the evergreen forests ; 

 and it is one of the commonest species near Rangoon in the dense orchards 



* In publishing this title Malherbe gives his name rujinotus as a synonym, and assigns 

 to it the date of 1845. 



